


Rings

by HelloHeadquarters



Series: Cryptage Week 2020 [3]
Category: Apex Legends (Video Games)
Genre: Cryptageweek, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-30
Updated: 2020-09-30
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:55:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26731738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HelloHeadquarters/pseuds/HelloHeadquarters
Summary: Tae Joon's left a mark on Elliott's world.Literally.Elliott doesn't mind.
Relationships: Crypto | Park Tae Joon/Mirage | Elliott Witt
Series: Cryptage Week 2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1942780
Comments: 1
Kudos: 50





	Rings

**Author's Note:**

> Day 3 of Cryptage Week: RING

Ring

"Oh for the love of... Tae Joon Park, I just might kill you when I see you next."

Elliott sighed and lifted up the coffee streaked mug from his desk. On the light pine underneath, a brown, circular ring had stained itself into the wood. Elliott looked at the ceiling for a moment before carrying the mug to the sink and rinsing it out. As much as he loved and adored Tae Joon, some days his bad habits made Elliott want to despair at him, too. He had known going into this thing that Tae Joon wasn't exactly the neatest guy around, but he didn't really mind until _his_ mess had somehow become _their_ mess, and on occasion Tae Joon had a tendency to do little things that wound Elliott right up.

Still, he thought as he turned his attention back to his befouled desk, it was actually kind of nice. Tae Joon sort of made it his business to make sure he didn't leave traces behind, and it was nice that there was something around to indicate that he had ever been there at all.

Even if, Elliott thought with a frown, it was just a careless coffee ring.

He looked down at it. When Tae Joon came by, it was at Elliott's desk that he spent most of his time, laptop beaming a sickly glow against his sharp features as he did whatever it was that he needed to do. Elliott would lay on his bed and watch him, occasionally making a nuisance of himself when he started to get lonely. It was a routine they had now; Tae Joon would try to shoo him away at first but eventually he would give in and embrace the affection Elliott relentlessly showered upon him. Elliott both knew that Tae Joon had to do the work he did and hated the fact in the same breath, but he at least took comfort in the fact that he was at least one thing in Tae Joon's life that, hopefully, didn't cause him pain.

Elliott checked his watch. It was late enough that he knew he wouldn't be seeing Tae Joon tonight, or else the man would sneak into his room while he was sleeping, sitting at Elliott's desk until he couldn't anymore and probably crawling into bed next to Elliott an hour before Elliott was due to get up again. Elliott sighed and sat st his desk. He never expected to be Tae Joon's top priority, not even as they grew closer and, in his case for sure, fell deeper, but they could go days like this sometimes, barely seeing each other as their real lives came knocking at the door and in that moment, Elliott really, really missed him. 

He took out his phone and sent a message off, just to see if the coast was clear.

**hey. Where r u?**

He wasn't expecting a quick response so he got up again and started fussing around his room, until half an hour later, his phone began to ring.

He was almost embarrassingly excited as he dragged it out of his pocket until he checked the screen to see who was calling him. 

"Yeah?"

"Elliott, it's Jacob," a smarmy voice drawled from the speaker. 

Elliott felt himself inwardly sagging. "Great," he said falsely. 

"Yeah, yeah," Jacob, the head of the Syndicate's PR department and generally all round insufferable asshole, shot back at him. "Got some good news for you. Your press calls been brought forward an hour."

Elliott raised an eyebrow. "That's good news?"

"Sure," Jacob continued without explanation. Elliott decided to just let it go. "Anyway, need you in hair and make up in five. Time to shine, champ." Jacob hung up so quickly that he probably missed Elliott's hiss of frustration, but Elliott still felt riled as he stowed his phone away. In all honesty he had forgotten he even had a press event at all; he wanted to stay where he was and wait for Tae Joon to return. 

Sighing, his gaze shifted once more to the coffee stain his desk had recently acquired. He considered sending another message to Tae Joon to let him know he was going to be occupied for the rest of the day, but then a thought struck him.

Taking a marker, he doodled a copy of the smiley face that graced the knee pad of his "Mirage" outfit inside the ring, complete with X eyes and spiky, sharp-toothed grin. Then he took a sheet from the top of a pile of sticky notes and scribbled a quick message inside a speech bubble. 

_Duty calls, sweetbuns. You better be here when I get back. E x._

He pressed the note to the space above the smiley and left to do what needed to be done. 

-

Tae Joon resisted the urge to go straight to Elliott's room when he got back. Instead he went to his own room and got showered and changed; three hours in a crowded freight mover had taken its toll. He eventually checked his phone too, and felt a small pull of guilt in his stomach when he saw he had a message from Elliott, asking where he was. 

It seemed stupid to answer when he was halfway to Elliott's room, so he shoved his phone in his pocket and knocked gently on the door.

There was no answer, but that could mean that Elliott was in the shower or asleep or anything, and Tae Joon opened the door with the spare key Elliott had pressed upon him the month or so before. 

"Elliott?" he called out as he shut the door behind him and dropped his bag onto Elliott's bed. He checked the bathroom after calling out again but there was no sign of his boyfriend, so he fished his laptop out of his bag and set it down on the desk.

It was then that he saw the smiley face and sticky note.

He peeled the message from the desk, a small smile ghosting his lips as he read Elliott's note. Still smiling, he stuck the note to the inside of a book in his bag, opened his laptop and began to work.

-

A few hours later, Tae Joon was starting to feel a heavy weight in his shoulders, his eyes beginning to itch with tiredness. He hadn't really slept the night before, and the days work hadn't proven all that relaxing. He stretched his arms out in front of him as he yawned widely, wondering where Elliott had gotten to. As he rolled his head on his shoulders, he decided it couldn't hurt to try to get some sleep, but as he stood up he spotted the coffee ring smiley face out of the corner of his eye.

Smiling to himself, he grabbed a sticky note.

_Do NOT wake me, or there will be consequences. TJ._

-

Elliott knew that Tae Joon had returned before he even opened his door. The faint smell of his spiced shower gel was lingering in the air and, almost bouncing with excitement, Elliott opened his door, only to met with the sound of deep, restful breathing. 

He frowned at Tae Joon's form on the bed, before glancing over to the desk. At first he thought it was his own note still in place, but closer inspection revealed it to be Tae Joon's threat instead. Elliott grinned wickedly to himself. 

He slid onto the bed behind Tae Joon, wrapping an arm around his waist as he pressed a kiss to his temple. Tae Joon moved a little in his sleep, closer to Elliott's warmth, his fingers closing over Elliott's own. 

"Hey baby," Elliott whispered gently. Tae Joon sighed softly. 

"Hey," he said in reply. "Didn't you get my note?"

"I did," Elliott said softly, running a hand over Tae Joon's hip. "Decided to risk it."

Tae Joon turned over to face him. "You always were a fool, Witt."

"Fool for you, maybe," Elliott said, leaning in to kiss him. 

"Terrible," Tae Joon responded, placing a finger against Elliott's lips. 

Elliott smiled behind the digit. "Why you love me," he murmured.

Tae Joon took his finger away and pressed himself to Elliott. "Shut up," he said with a smile as he moved his hands beneath Elliott's shirt.

"Make me," Elliott teased, nudging at Tae Joon's jaw to gain access to his throat. Tae Joon didn't need much encouragement, and it wasn't long before he was pinned beneath Elliott, the other man's arms either side of his head as Elliott assaulted him with long, filthy kisses.

-

Elliott woke up afterwards not even able to recall when he fell asleep, but he was very aware that he couldn't feel his left arm. As gently as he could manage, he pulled himself free from his sleeping boyfriend and got to his feet, stretching out his stiff muscles, feeling warm and happy. It was still early; the sky was the cold muted grey that indicated that sunrise was on the way. 

Waking Tae Joon the night before had been a little selfish, even if they had both benefited from it in the end, but looking at him now, his hair falling into his eyes, mouth open just a little, Elliott would have fought off legions to let him rest. He indulged himself for a moment, just watching Tae Joon sleep, before deciding to head down to the gym.

There was just one thing to do before he left. 

_Not that I didn't enjoy the 'consequences', but you're too cute to wake this time. I'll return. With breakfast. I love you. E x_

-

It wasn't long before leaving little notes for each other next to the coffee smiley ring became part of their routine. They often missed each other during the day; they may have been together but between them they were juggling about twenty different responsibilities so they couldn't exactly live in each other's pockets.

Mostly, the notes were cute sentiments. 'I miss yous' and 'I love yous'. Sometimes, mostly on Elliott's part, they were downright filthy, with promises of what carnal pleasures awaited Tae Joon when Elliott returned. 

Tae Joon was the first to use the smiley for an apology after being snappish and short with Elliott after a few long and tiring days that had amounted to nothing, and Elliott had decided not to use a post-it to explain to Tae Joon that he understood. 

-

Time went on, and the smiley ritual faded slightly, becoming something they only remembered to do once in a while, although Tae Joon was careful not to create another stain, even going so far as to buy himself a coaster for the first and only time in his life. They got along, fell deeper in love, and as the years past it soon became apparent that both of them were close to hanging up their legends for good. 

Tae Joon had only stayed because he needed a way to ensure Mila's safety once she had come home, and that meant money and status and all the other things that came with the Games. He wasn't proud of it, but he could at least take a small pleasure in the fact that he had beaten the bastards, in his own little way, and now it was their money that kept his sister and Mystik comfortable in their lives. 

Elliott had been conflicted too, had been from the moment he had learned the truth about the people who bankrolled Mirage, staying at first because there was still work to be done and remaining because as Tae Joon said, the money Elliott spent looking after his mom would only end up somewhere worse otherwise. They were flimsy reasons, they both knew this, but Tae Joon had done enough and his fight, at least, was over.

They'd gotten a small place together where they lived during the off season, but during the competitions Elliott's room was always where they could be found. Their relationship was no secret among the others, but it was only on the day they announced their joint retirement from the Games that they decided to go public.

There was a whirlwind of ceremonies and events in their honour, but after it had all died down all that was left was to pack up the last remnants of Mirage and Crypto and get on with the next stage of their lives.

It was strange to sit on Elliott's stripped down bed, a bed that they were both thankful could not confess anything to its future occupant, staring at the bare walls where many a Mirage poster had once been. 

Elliott was a little melancholy. For all the terrible things behind him, Mirage had been important to Elliott, a very real part of him, and it was difficult to say goodbye. 

Tae Joon wrapped an arm around Elliott's shoulders and pulled him close. "Just think," he said softly. "Soon it will just be you and me, no more getting called away to photo shoots and press conferences, no more having to spend days on end healing from our last match. Just us... and the cat."

Elliott laughed gently. "Its been years, Tae. She's not going to come around."

"She may be getting calmer in her old age," Tae Joon countered.

Elliott sighed. "Yeah. Ok, come on, let's... let's get out of here. No sense sitting around like two sad old geezers who can't let go of their glory days."

Tae Joon kissed him and stood up. "I just need to do one last check in my room, just to - Oh. Oh no."

He had stopped by Elliott's desk.

"What?" Elliott asked nervously. 

Tae Joon smiled sadly. "Coffee smiley," he sighed. 

Elliott looked over. "He'll be here to take care of the next idiot," he said with a grin.

Tae Joon shook his head. "You're not an idiot."

Elliott raised his eyebrows. "Took you long enough." He stood up, a sudden energy overtaking him. "Go. Do your thing. Come back here in ten and we'll do one last miserable tour of the place."

Tae Joon looked at him quizically. "What are you going to do?"

Elliott shrugged. "Just... ten minutes, ok?"

Tae Joon nodded, suspecting foul play but agreed anyway. Knowing Elliott, he'd return in a little while to find the other man sprawled naked on his bare mattress, a wicked smile on his face for old time's sake.

-

When he came back, however, the room was empty. "Elliott?" he called. He rolled his eyes. Elliott was so often late that Tae Joon had begun to expect it, so he pulled out the chair at his desk and sat down to wait.

There was a new note.

_Marry me?_

Tae Joon's hand flew to his mouth as he looked at it, before his eye was caught by a new ring that sat squarely inside the old, familiar one. A plain silver band on one of the X's. 

He stared at it for a moment, frozen. In all honesty, he'd had little dreams of this moment, but they had just been little fantasies in his head. 

"Are... are you gonna put it on?"

Tae Joon looked up to see Elliott standing in the doorway, his face a picture of adorable nerves. He looked back down at the ring, reached out and picked it up before slipping it into his finger. 

Elliott sagged with relief. "Oh...oh good. You had me worried there for a second. I thought you were gonna-"

Tae Joon crossed the room quickly and snatched Elliott up in his arms, silencing him with a clumsy kiss.

"That really was cheesy," he told Elliott, face flushed with happiness.

Elliott shrugged and looked down at his feet, but Tae Joon placed his fingertips beneath Elliott's chin to guide him back to face him.

"And it was perfect," he said gently. "I love you, Elliott."

-

The next legend to move into Mirage's old digs was a fresh faced, twenty something fighter from Gaea who did interesting things with liquid nitrogen. They unpacked and looked around at their new place, a proud smile on their features as they took it all in. The mattress looked like it needed changing, but there was a good sized dresser and a desk and chair and all in all, it was pretty good compared to the little room they'd been living in up to that point. 

They glanced at the desk, and immediately their gaze was drawn to the odd smiley face with a little note stuck beside it.

_You got this, kid. E & TJ._


End file.
